HSK 5
Méi xiǎng qīngchu jiù dòngshǒu, zuìhòu chéng le bānjiāngshǔ.
He got to work without thinking it through, and in the end all that effort was wasted.
HSK 7-9
Tā zhème xiā máng, jiǎnzhí jiùshì ge bānjiāngshǔ.
The way he's running around like a headless chicken, he's just spinning his wheels for nothing.